Florida Small Claims Court Limit
The $8,000 Cap
Florida small claims court handles civil disputes where the principal amount in controversy is $8,000 or less. This ceiling was raised from $5,000 effective January 1, 2020, under Fla. Stat. § 34.01.
Three things are excluded from the $8,000 calculation: court costs, accrued interest (both prejudgment and post-judgment), and attorney fees that a statute or contract entitles you to recover. So a $7,800 unpaid invoice with $400 in accrued interest and $300 in filing fees still qualifies — only the $7,800 principal counts against the limit.
If your claim is more than $8,000 and no more than $50,000, it goes to the general civil division of county court, where formal civil procedure rules apply. Above $50,000, you're in circuit court. Both require more paperwork, stricter deadlines, and typically an attorney.
What Happens if Your Claim Exceeds $8,000
You have two options. First, you can waive the amount above $8,000 and file in small claims for the reduced amount. This is worth considering when the speed, lower cost, and simpler procedures of small claims outweigh losing the excess.
Second, you can file in general county court for the full amount. The trade-off: formal complaints, a 20-day answer period for the defendant, full civil discovery, and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure instead of the streamlined small claims rules.
What you cannot do is split a single $12,000 claim into two $6,000 filings. Florida courts treat claim-splitting as a waiver of the excess or grounds for dismissal with prejudice.
Statutes of Limitations for Common Small Claims
The limit on how much you can claim is only half the eligibility question. The other half is whether you're filing in time. Florida's statutes of limitations under Chapter 95 set firm deadlines, and a missed deadline bars your claim entirely — no exceptions for demand letters or ongoing negotiations.
| Claim Type | Time Limit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Written contract breach | 5 years | § 95.11(2)(b) |
| Oral contract breach | 4 years | § 95.11(3)(j) |
| Trespass on real property | 4 years | § 95.11(3)(f) |
| Taking, detaining, or injuring personal property; recovery of specific personal property | 4 years | § 95.11(3)(g)–(h) |
| Fraud or misrepresentation | 4 years from discovery, subject to a 12-year outside limit | §§ 95.11(3)(i), 95.031(2)(a) |
| Negligence (on/after March 24, 2023) | 2 years | § 95.11(5)(a) |
| Negligence (before March 24, 2023) | 4 years | Former § 95.11(3)(a) |
The negligence change is significant. HB 837, signed into law in March 2023, cut the negligence limitation period in half for claims arising on or after that date. If you were in a car accident or had property damaged through someone's negligence after March 24, 2023, you have 2 years from the date it happened — not 4.
The clock starts on the date of the breach, the damage, or the incident. For fraud, it starts from the date you discovered (or should have discovered) the misrepresentation, with a 12-year outer limit.
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Claims That Don't Belong in Small Claims
Even if your claim is under $8,000, Florida small claims court won't handle:
- Evictions or possession disputes — those follow separate summary procedures under Chapters 82 and 83
- Real property disputes — land title, boundary, and partition actions go to circuit court
- Standalone equitable claims — the small-claims rules cover actions with a demand for money or property worth no more than $8,000; they also apply when that claim is coupled with equitable relief (Rule 7.010(b))
- Claims against government entities — Fla. Stat. § 768.28 imposes notice and recovery requirements for tort claims; those requirements do not by themselves move a small-value damages claim to a different division
A common confusion: a landlord who wants both unpaid rent (money damages) and the tenant removed (possession) can file the money claim in small claims but must use a separate eviction proceeding for the possession part.
Knowing the limit and the time limits before you start keeps you from filing in the wrong court or missing a deadline that kills your claim. Our Florida Small Claims Filing Guide includes a deadline calendar and eligibility checklist that walks through all of this before you touch a form.
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